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Did Someone Say PER? Don't Forget About This Key ACCA Requirement!

Georgina Roberts

Exams Are The Knolwedge, But Your PER Is The Proof!

We focus our energy and time on the ACCA exams but the Practical Experience Requirement, PER, is a vital aspect of your ACCA qualification that can sometimes be overlooked.

It's the living proof that what you've learned in the syllabus is what you've actually 'done' in the workplace.

What You Need To Complete The PER

There are 3 components you MUST complete:

  1. 36 Months of relevant, practical and supervised experience in an accounting or finance role. It MUST be signed off to make it legit!

  2. 9 Performance Objectives
    5 Essentials + 4 from Any Technical Objectives (ACCA has 17 currently, that you can choose from)

  3. Record and Report your evidence on the ACCA portal in 'MyExperience'
    This is also where your supervisor will sign it off for you.

How To Meet The Performance Objectives

You don't need to complete every technical objective - just choose the 4 most relevant to your work (alongside the 5 compulsory)

  • Choose objectives that match what you do week to week, at work.

  • Then, in your next 3-6 months of work find opportunities to create and store evidence for these objectives.

  • Discuss and agree with your supervisor so when it comes to sign-off time you're on the same page.

How To Choose A Suitable Mentor or Supervisor

You need a good working relationship with this person. They also need to have the bandwidth to be able to help or support you when you need. 
A good mentor is likely to be someone who:

  1. Understands the rigour and expectations of ACCA students.

  2. Has time for regular check-ins with you.

  3. Can help you with day-to-day tasks that provide evidence for you to meet the requirement, and maybe also has recent experience of helping former trainees -it's something they like to do.

The Long Term

One way to stay on top of this PER is to treat it like an exam that you sit gradually. 
Keep checking in with your mentor, keep gathering your evidence, keep on track of how close you are to meeting it.
Make sure you keep your 'MyExperience' updated regularly.

There's a lot on the ACCA site for this and so here's a useful link to explore this further!

ACCA PER Information: https://www.accaglobal.com/uk/en/student/practical-experience-per/performance-objectives

Good luck with your PER - the practical and vital part of your ACCA qualification.